Big changes, big opportunities on Celtics

Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart are all poised to take over parts of the shooting guard duties Avery Bradley had helped hold down for seven seasons in Boston.

By Scott Souza, Metrowest Daily News

In the span of less than two weeks, a Celtics team that was in the Eastern Conference finals two months ago is poised to turn over 60 percent of its roster.

The trade of Avery Bradley to the Detroit Pistons on Friday afternoon was the biggest blow to the status quo, which included letting Kelly Olynyk walk to the Miami Heat and Amir Johnson to the Philadelphia 76ers, while Gerald Green, Jonas Jerebko, Tyler Zeller and James Young are all free agents unlikely to return, and both Demetrius Jackson and Jordan Mickey could be let go to facilitate the signing of Gordon Hayward.

That’s nine players gone from the 15-player roster that won 53 regular-season games and two playoff series.

While the additions of Hayward and Marcus Morris, acquired in the Bradley trade, and No. 3 overall pick Jayson Tatum will fill some of the voids, much of Bradley’s minutes will go to the top draft picks of the previous three years.

Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart are all poised to take over parts of the shooting guard duties Bradley had helped hold down for seven seasons in Boston.

The most obvious choice for the spot is Smart. The team’s starting point guard for parts of his rookie season three years ago, Smart became the sixth man last year with the departure of Evan Turner. Despite only starting 24 games, he averaged a career-best 10.7 points per game and still topped 30 minutes a night.

While Smart’s shooting continues to be problematic – he shot 35.9 percent overall and 28.3 percent on 3-pointers last year – Celtics coach Brad Stevens often cites Smart’s knack of making “the big ones” and trusts him on the floor to close out games. His ability to defend four to even five positions on the floor to some extent – and his propensity for grabbing the critical loose ball or rebound with the game on the line – puts him in the heart of the Stevens rotation.

Just not necessarily in his starting lineup.

Brown started 20 games as a rookie, with 16 of those starts coming among the 27 games Bradley missed. While Stevens originally went to Smart when Bradley went out with an Achilles injury, he turned to Brown in an effort to keep Smart in the sixth man role. Brown responded well, for the most part, and went on to be named to the NBA All-Rookie second team.

His shooting percentages of 45.4 percent overall, and 34.1 percent on 3-pointers, were both better than anticipated for a player whose shot was questioned coming out of California. He looked very strong in the summer league opener in Utah on Monday, despite some turnover issues, and said before leaving for Salt Lake City last week: “I want to prove I can do a lot of the things I think I can do that a lot of people don’t think I can do.”

Rozier also figures to be part of the equation after an impressive playoff run. While Rajon Rondo’s injury, and Isaiah Thomas’ emotional recovery from his sister’s death on the eve of the series, were major factors in Boston’s ability to rally from down 2-0 in the opening round against the Chicago Bulls, the insertion of Rozier in the rotation also played a big role in the four consecutive victories.

While he only shot 36.7 percent overall, and 31.3 percent on 3-pointers, on the season, the numbers were improvements upon his rookie year. Rozier’s presence as a primary ball-handler would also allow Thomas to spend more time off the ball – a tactic Stevens went with frequently in the playoffs – and he was arguably the team’s best rebounder in the postseason.

Bradley was the team’s second-leading rebounder last season at 6.3 per game, yet Rozier managed 3.1 rebounds in only 17.1 minutes. Their per-36-minute rebound rate were nearly identical with Bradley at 6.6 and Rozier at 6.5.

As tough as the loss of Bradley is from the sentimentality perspective for those who watched him grow up in a Boston uniform, it does open the door a little further to watch players among the next generation of Celtic youth do some growing of their own.

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